The Other Side of the Coin
by LilMate
Summary: "Shinigami-sama, I would like to strike a deal with you." a 12-year old Naruto spoke as he turned and faced the God of the Dead. A "Neglected by Family" story.
1. Prologue: The Sealing

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other references within this story.

Key:

**"Summons and other Biju speaking/jutsu"**

_**"Summons and other Biju thinking"**_

"Human Speech"

_"Human Thought"_

* * *

**_The Other Side of the Coin_**

**_Prologue: The Sealing_**

* * *

"MINATO NAMIKAZE I WILL CRUSH YOUR BALLS AND USE YOUR SKULL AS A TEACUP!" screamed Kushina. "YOU DID THIS TO ME!"

"Calm down Kushi-chan, you're starting to break my hand her–" Minato was cut off as a bone actually cracked.

"Push Kushina-san," the matron said. "You're almost there!"

The cave was soon lit up with the sounds of two babies crying. "What do you want to name them Kushi-chan?" smiled Minato.

"H-him. I want to name him N-Naruto… and the girl… I want to name her Minami… so she can g-grow big and strong like her father, so she can grow strong with my little maelstrom." Kushina smiled faintly. Her grip had long since relaxed and her arms were very weak.

"Come Kushina-san," the matron said with a smile. "Let's get you and the babies ou–"

The matron was cut off and the sick sound of blood being splattered rang throughout the cave.

"Now now, we can't have our precious jinchuuriki leaving just yet, can we?"

The man was tall, wearing a robe of ebony black, with a hood covering his barely visible short spiky hair. His mask held a single eyehole and contained a pattern not unlike that of Shukaku the Ichibi. In his hands were two small babies, still covered in blankets.

"One wrong step Yondaime, and your children will live to the long ripe age of 2 minutes," A spiraling red eye containing 3 tomoe shone through the eye hole. "Comply with my demands and no one gets hurt."

"Wh-Who are you?!" Minato said, his eyes hardening in preparation for battle.

"Step away from the jinchuuriki," the masked man spoke. "Do you not care what happens to your little gakis?"

"Stay calm! No one needs to get hurt!" his hands gripped at his sides, Minato crouched in preparation.

"Speak for yourself. I am extremely calm." With those words the masked man threw the 2 children into the air, twin kunai falling out of his sleeves. Gripping the kunai, he threw them upwards, aimed for the children.

A flash of light momentarily filled the cavern, the sound of two kunai clattering off the ceiling rang throughout the cavern.

The masked man turned. "Fast Yondaime, very fast… but were you fast enough?"

Hearing a sizzling Minato looked down and saw 5 explosive tags strapped to the backs of the blankets. Fire raged and roared, condensed into the small space of the cavern, the sound cracking the walls and causing a cave-in. Rocks tumbled from the ceiling, sealing that which remained within. Smoke spiraled out of the cavern's entrance. A yellow flash of light sparked into existence near a kunai pinned to a tree several meters from the cavern. Out of the flash fell Minato, in his arms were Naruto and Minami.

"Urgh, I need to get these two someplace safe!" A short burst of yellow, and he was gone.

* * *

"Now then…" spoke the masked man. In front of him, chained by seals was Kushina, her abdomen exposed, with the Uzumaki style seal twisting and turning. Incredibly weak, she was barely conscious from the effort of childbirth.

"Come out! Awaken and destroy Konoha! Serve the Uchiha, your true masters!" The sharingan in the man's mask began spinning quickly, shining with an unearthly glow.

Her stomach bulged. It bulged again. The third time a crimson chakra erupted out of her abdomen, spinning and swirling, coalescing into the Kyuubi, in all of its terrible glory, its eyes spiraling in the shape of the sharingan.

Jumping off into the forest, the man called the Kyuubi to him. '_Soon, Konoha will be dust, and I will have my revenge…"_

Kushina did not speak, but her heart still beat ferociously, keeping her frail body alive…

* * *

Minato warped into a clearing, a good deal away from the Kyuubi. He stared, a single tear racing down his cheek as he saw the smoke and fire coming from his beloved village. He looked down, his hair hiding his eyes.

"You'll pay for this," he muttered angrily.

"Will I? Come prove it to me, _Yondaime_," the masked man said mockingly, his body swirling into existence behind Minato.

Spinning on the spot, rasengan in hand, already spinning, Minato thrust his arm out, in an attempt to break the mask. To his surprise, the attack phased through, arm and all. Jumping back, two 3-pronged kunai falling out of his sleeves, Minato skid on the ground, crouching and ready for combat.

Twin chains, tipped with spikes, shot out of the masked man's robe drilling through the air, right at Minato's face. Minato threw one of his kunai into the air and warped. Landing on the chain, he vanished almost instantly, the only disturbance being small twists on the chain where he was landing. Jumping from chain to chain moving forward all the while, Minato re-appeared right in front of the masked man, before warping behind him, to the seal formula he placed on his back when he thrust his rasengan at the start of the fight. Rasengan already in hand, Minato shot his arm out, unsurprisingly phasing through the masked man. Chains quickly wrapped around him before he puffed out of existence.

"A shadow clone!? When did he–" the masked man did not have a chance to finish his sentence before the ground split apart, revealing Minato reaching up with his rasengan at the mask of the man. A small knick formed on the mask before the rest of the attack passed through. Minato quickly teleported back to the tree to get away, not willing to give his enemy an opening.

"Impressive, Yondaime. You are fast. To actually manage to scratch me is amazing. You are truly deserving of your title." '_That was too close, a second later and everything would have been ruined_,' the masked man thought, beyond agitated at this point. "But alas, all good things must come to an end."

The two rushed forward, the masked man with his chains flailing behind him, Minato with his remaining kunai in hand. 3 meters from each other, Minato threw his kunai. The kunai passed through the masked man's head, flying out the other end. The masked man reached forward, his hand almost touching Minato.

'_I win_,' he thought, before his one eye widened in shock as the Hokage disappeared, reappearing above him, a rasengan spiraling in hand.

**AN: Play "Naruto Shippuuden Road to Ninja Movie 6 OST - Track 28 - Breakdown"**

"What!?" exclaimed the masked man, unable to react in time. Minato's rasengan slammed into his back, destroying the ground, and blasting the rubble back with a wave of chakra.

"**Hiraishin, Ni no Dan** **(Flying Thunder God, Second Step)** you bastard!" Minato smirked as he further drove the rasengan into the man's back before feeling him disappear, and seeing him spiral into existence to his left.

**AN: End Soundtrack, (this was based upon the actual scene in the anime, if you couldn't tell)**

"I see, you are indeed formidable Yondaime. But I fear that tim–" the masked man was interrupted as a burning feeling shot through his body, looking at his back he saw a seal, shining a bright yellow.

* * *

The nine tails roared, buildings in its path blown back by the sheer power of it. It stood up on its hind legs and began to form a bijudama, however the attack collapsed, as it shook, its eyes spinning faster, the tomoe in them fading out into existence, before finally settling on slitted pupils.

* * *

"You-you disconnected me from the nine tails! When did you–" Minato interrupted his rant.

"When I hit you with my rasengan. Face it. Your reign of terror is over."

"This is not the last you hear of me Minato. This is not the last time you will hear the name Madara!" With that, Madara's single eye spun, shining with a red glow, causing a ripple within the air. His body began skewing, spiraling into the vortex, before disappearing completely.

With Madara safely handeled, Minato turned towards the village, disappearing in a flash of yellow light.

* * *

"NOW! PUSH THIS THING OUT OF THE VILLAGE!" shouted the Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"SIR!" was the reply of hundreds of ninja over the communication network set up by the Yamanaka.

"**KATON: GOUKAKYUU NO JUTSU (Fire Release: Fireball Technique)"** was the shout heard from across the village. The sky shone with thousands of fireballs, before slamming into the Kyuubi, with enough force to make it backpedal, and lift it on its hind legs.

"AND STAY OUT!" shouted Hiruzen, as his staff elongated into a weapon fit for a mega-sized Akimichi. Slamming the staff into its snout, Hiruzen launched the Kyuubi right past the walls, causing it to fall into the outskirts of the village. The ninja followed. The Kyuubi raised its head, charging a bijudama.

As they prepared to fight further, to protect their beloved village, a large poof was heard in the sky before a shadow enveloped the Kyuubi.

"**NOT SO FAST, YOU MORON!"** was the exclamation of the chief toad, Gamabunta as he landed on the Kyuubi, crushing its muzzle, preventing the attack from going off. On top of his head was Minato, holding Minami in his arms.

"**Minato NOW!" **shouted Gamabunta. **"I can't keep him down forever!"**

"I know!" shouted Minato as he jumped down onto the Kyuubi's head, doing seals along the way. "**Hiraishin no Jutsu!**" The Kyuubi and Minato, along with Minami were enveloped in a golden glow, before flashing off into the distance, to the site of his battle with Madara.

* * *

Flashing in sideways, he let gravity do its work to separate him and the Kyuubi by several hundred meters.

'_The only way Kushi-chan was able to hold the full might of the Kyuubi was because she was old enough to keep it chained, yet young enough that her chakra network could develop to control it_,' thought Minato '_There's no way Minami could hold all of its chakra. I'm going to have to split it, but the only way how is the…_'

Quickly tossing Minami in the air before catching her, Minato made several hand seals.

"**SHIKI FUJIN**" he roared, summoning the God of the Dead, the Shinigami.

A cold, crushing aura descended upon the land, halting the Kyuubi in its tracks. The sky grew dark, storm clouds brewing, and the terrifying visage of the Shinigami phased into existence, the only sound the ringing of the bells, shimmering on its long, floating sash.

The air warped as the Shinigami raised his arm into the air, his sleeve falling down revealing seal markings twisting down his arm. Slamming it into the effigy of Minato in front of him, a purple arm spiraled out of Minato's stomach, grabbing the Kyuubi and pulling out a shining white portion of its chakra. The hand retracted, pulling the chakra through Minato, but not sealing it. You see, in his hurry to get the Kyuubi sealed, Minato made a small mistake in his hand signs, using the Tiger instead of the Snake seal. Perfectly understandable, given the circumstances, but this would prove to change fate, and the path of the world. The arm of the Shinigami flew out of the effigy of Minato, and brought the Yang chakra of the Kyuubi up to the Shinigami's face, before sending it down into the stomach of the God, sealed for the time being.

Thinking he hadn't made a mistake, and that this was supposed to happen, Minato proceeded to seal the rest of the Yin chakra into Minami through the use of **Hakke no Fūin Shiki (Eight Trigrams Sealing Style)**.

"I hope you grow up to be a great hero, just like your mommy," Minato murmured before turning to the Shinigami floating behind him.

"**Are you ready mortal?"**

Minato closed his eyes, preparing for his fate, but as he did, images flickered past, him pushing Naruto and Minami on swings, Kushina yelling at the kids as they clambered out the window with toast in their mouths, him assigning the kids their first C-Rank mission. His eyes opened.

"No. I… I am not ready…" he managed to stutter out

"**Very well,"** was the reply given by the God.

"Wh-what? I-I thought that–" stuttered Minato.

"**It does not matter when I get your soul, be it now, or in a thousand years. I am patient, your soul will be mine in the end. Our deal has been struck."** The Shinigami boomed as it faded out of existence.

Minato couldn't believe it. He'd been given another chance. Tears formed in his eyes, before he brushed them off and collapsed from chakra exhaustion. His last sight before fading to black was that off his sweet little Minami crying as the Sandaime quickly approached.

Minato woke up in a hospital. Quickly looking around he saw Kushina and the kids in the bed next to him, the seal containing half of the Kyuubi still shining brightly on Minami's stomach.

"Mi-Minato-koi?" Kushina groaned as she sat up, still holding the kids.

"Yes Kushina, I'm still here, we're all still here."

"You-YOU IDIOT! I was so worried when I heard you summoned the Shinigami of all things to seal the Kyuubi away! I thought you died! I thought that the kids wouldn't have a father! I thought–" Minato had brought a finger to her lips.

"Shh. You'll wake the kids."

Smiling sweetly, he looked down at the twin babies. Naruto, his hair so much like his father's, yellow and already beginning to look spiky, and Minami, her hair soft and crimson, so much like her mother's.

* * *

_3 days later…_

"People of Konoha! 3 days ago the Kyuubi escaped from its seal and attacked Konoha!" announced Minato, standing on the podium. "I resealed it into my daughter, Minami!"

Angry muttering broke out, and Minato heard several whispering of killing and stopping the demon once and for all. Quickly opening his mouth to avoid this, Minato spoke.

"Do not fear! For my daughter is not the Kyuubi! She is the prison, and the warden of the Kyuubi! She is a hero of Konoha! Keeping the Kyuubi at bay for as long as she lives!" Minato turned to Kushina, the smile on his face matching hers. She handed him Minami and watched as he lovingly raised her to the crowd.

"I present my daughter! The Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi! The hero of Konoha!" with those words, the crowd roared in approval, all the while forgetting about the small blonde child in Kushina's arms, sleeping, and unknown to anybody, waiting. Waiting for destiny to take its course and shift the world on end. The child, blissfully unaware of his great future slept on, dreaming about nothing but warmth and happiness…

'…_**Just remember that all deals have a price…**_**'**

* * *

**AN: Well that's that. The first chapter/prologue of my first fanfiction. Please no flames as this is my first fanfic ever. Any constructive criticism is welcome as well as any advice or any improvements you think could be made.**


	2. Chapter 1: Special

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other references within this story.

Key:

**"Summons and other Biju speaking"**

_**'Summons and other Biju thinking'**_

"Human Speech"

_'Human Thought'_

**Justu**

* * *

_**The Other Side of the Coin**_

_**Chapter 1: Special**_

* * *

_Time Skip: 5 years later_

Sapphire eyes flickered open. Minato groaned as he sat up, his eyes quickly gazing about his room. Getting out from under the covers, he quickly got dressed and went downstairs for breakfast.

It was about 8 in the morning, if the sun was any indication. He could already hear his family downstairs: Kushina frying eggs, and the incessant whining of his daughter, complaining about not eating ramen for breakfast.

Frowning slightly, he made his way to the bottom of the staircase, arriving just in time to see Kushina set out a plate of eggs for everyone. Sitting down at the table, he began to eat rather slowly, as he watched Minami devour the eggs at high speed.

"Kaa-san, tou-san, will we start training with the Kyuubi's chakra today? You said we would, you said!" whined the ever excitable Minami.

"That we did Minami, did you remember to read up on your schedule?" he smiled lightly at her.

"Yeah! We're going to be running around the village, and then we're going to go through katas, and then we're going to unlock my chakra, so we can start tree-climbing, and then–"

"Minami, be quiet and eat your breakfast!" shouted Kushina as she tapped Minami on the head with her spatula.

Finishing his breakfast, he watched as Kushina and Minami headed out the door. Minato headed into the living room, and began packing up everything he would need for that day: a few training kunai and shuriken, a scroll on the Uzumaki Whirlwind Fist Style, and a few other training supplements.

"Er, tou-san?" a quiet voice rang through the room.

Jumping slightly at the unexpected noise he turned and saw Naruto peeking over the railing on the staircase, his blue eyes staring at him.

Flinching slightly at not realizing his son didn't eat his breakfast he quickly tried to ascertain what his son wanted.

"Yes, Naruto?"

"Can… Can I come train with you too?"

Minato's eyes widened a little before settling on his normal expression.

"Sorry Naru-chan, but right now we need to train Minami for her to use the Kyuubi's chakra. It's very dangerous if she doesn't know how to control it if it starts going haywire."

Flinching slightly at his son's dull eyes, barely sparkling in the corners with unshed tears, he quickly opened his pack and took out a scroll. Tossing it in the air once, he walked to the railing and handed it to Naruto.

"This scroll contains chakra control for beginners, if you truly want to be a ninja like your tou-san and kaa-chan, you can try reading this."

His mouth twitched upwards as a small excited gleam entered his son's eyes.

"Tell you what, I wasn't planning on telling you this until later, but your kaa-chan and I will train you when you enter the academy. I promise."

The small amount of guilt weighing on his mind intensified as he saw Naruto nod his head furiously before taking his scroll and running out the door.

Guiltily staring at his son's back as he ran across the doorway, he wondered back to when he first understood that Minami needed to come first…

* * *

**Flashback**

"_Minato!"_

_Minato looked up from his paperwork in the Hokage office and watched as his mentor opened a window and climbed through._

"_Jiraiya-sensei, why don't you ever use the door like a normal person?"_

"_Bah, being normal is boring!" muttered the now identified Jiraiya. "But that's not what I came here to discuss. I was just on Mount Myoboku, sparring with Pa, when I was called by a messenger toad to come see the Toad Sage on the top of the mountain. I apologized to Pa and quickly made my way up. When I got there, the Toad Sage gave me a prophecy!" _

"_What!?" exclaimed Minato. "If you're here telling me, I'm assuming that it has something to do with me."_

"_Not you, you egoist!" laughed Jiraiya. "I believe it concerns your daughter."_

"_Minami? What did she do?"_

"_Ah! The question is what _will_ she do," Jiraiya smiled. "From what I understood, the prophecy told of a young ninja, the prison of a great destructive force, but keeping at bay only half of it. This ninja shall face many challenges and in the end, when the eye of the moon is opened, this ninja will decide the fate of the world."_

"_The eye of the moon? What does that mean?" Minato questioned._

"_I don't know, we will just have to wait and see. But this prophecy is clearly pointing towards Minami! She has already told us she wants to be a ninja when she grows up and she keeps at bay the Yin part of the Kyuubi, a literal half of a biju, and if a biju isn't a great destructive force, I don't know what is."_

"_I… I guess we will have to start her training early," muttered Minato. "She will need to be prepared to face the challenges ahead."_

"_Yup! You'll need to give her a head start on her education as a ninja."_

"_But what about Naruto?" frowned Minato. "He needs to be trained as well!"_

"_It's alright. You can train him once he starts the academy."_

"_I… I suppose…" muttered Minato._

"_Don't worry," Jiraiya assured his student. "It will all turn out great in the end. Naruto will understand."_

**Flashback End**

* * *

Frowning slightly at the memory, he walked out the door and followed his wife and daughter.

* * *

Running across the busy marketplace of the village, Naruto made his way to his favorite spot in the village, a small shaded area, underneath a tree in the park.

His smile faltered as he thought back to breakfast. Naruto wasn't as child-like as everyone believed. He fully understood that his parents needed to train his sister in the use of Kyuubi's chakra so that she could better protect the village, but he still didn't see why his tou-san couldn't just make a shadow clone to help him out.

'_I guess if he doesn't get that he can solve his paperwork problem that he often complains about with shadow clones, he probably won't think of making them to teach me.'_

Making his way across the park, he reached his favorite tree, a small cedar, and sat down in the grass, relaxing in the shade for all of two seconds before sitting up and opening the book on chakra.

While he knew how to read, learning at an astounding age of 3 years, the terms used in the book were a bit too complex for him to understand.

Naruto attempted to read the book for a good 15 minutes, before angrily throwing the book a few feet from him.

'_If I can't even learn to use chakra correctly, how can I be a good ninja?'_

Looking across the park, he watched as parents played with their children. A small frown made its way across his face before brightening when he heard a familiar voice call him from behind.

Turning around he saw his tou-san's students, a young brunette named Rin waving and walking towards him.

"Rin nee-chan!" he yelled as he quickly ran on his short little legs and hugged his favorite person. His parents, while favored, began to drop down on his list as they began to pay less attention to him.

"Hi Naru-chan! What's a little guy like you doing out here by yourself?"

"I'm not little!" Naruto crossed his arms indigently, pouting slightly. Rin thought it made him all the more cuter.

"And I'm not by myself, the 2 ANBU on the playground are watching me."

Rin frowned and looked up. From what she could see, there were no ANBU on the playground, just kids and their parents.

"What do you mean Naru-chan? Where are they?"

"Over there," Naruto turned and pointed at a kid spinning on the playground's merry-go-round, while his parent sat on a bench and supervised. "They are 2 ANBU under that poofy smoke thingy that ninja use to look like someone else."

Rin was wide-eyed. "And how do you know that Naru-chan?"

"They have a warm feeling coming off them, if I close my eyes I can kind of see it, it's like a warm blue hug, but there's ice underneath it, just like tou-san's."

'_Amazing, he's able to sense the ANBU under a transformation, just from the chakra the transformation gave off.'_ Rin thought to herself.

"Well then, if you're sure you're not alone, could you tell me what you were doing?"

"I was trying to be a better ninja," He held up his small book. "I was trying to learn how to use chakakra."

"I think you mean _chakra_ Naru-chan," corrected Rin. "Why don't I just help you read it?"

"Really?" exclaimed Naruto, his eyes shining brightly. "Thanks nee-chan!"

Smiling to herself, she hefted Naruto up onto her neck and walked over to his favorite tree. Sitting down, she put Naruto in her lap and opened the book for him.

_Chakra is the mixture of physical and spiritual energy, contained within the Human Body. Chakra is the energy that shinobi and kunoichi use to perform jutsu. By forming handseals, they can control the flow of the chakra to make it do what they want, from breathing fire, to creating copies of themselves. You can train your physical energy by doing exercises such as sit-ups and jumping jacks. Your spiritual energy is trained by listening to music and solving complex problems as well as learning. All of this is done to increase your chakra reserves. A shortcut to increase your chakra reserves is to simply expend it all, and let it refill. Your body will believe that you require more chakra for whatever it is you're doing, and will compensate as required. Chakra is channeled through the tenketsu, a system of points connected by tubes spanning across the human body. There are a total of 361 tenketsu. Tenketsu help regulate the flow of chakra, without them, your chakra cannot flow. Your chakra will increase naturally as you age, levelling off at your prime. The following are the names of the hand seals used to control chakra:_

_Bird, Dragon, Boar, Dog, Hare, Tiger, Ox, Serpent, Dragon, Monkey, Rat, and Ram._

Rin helped Naruto read the book for several minutes, explaining several of the long words that he didn't understand.

"Okay, the first step towards controlling your chakra is to actually access it. Can you access your chakra Naru-chan?"

"No, not yet." Was the down-trodden reply that escaped from Naruto's lips.

"Well then, the first step is to close your eyes and form the Ram handseal."

Naruto quickly got off his comfortable seat and stood up. Closing his eyes, he made the Ram seal, with Rin correcting his hand posture and fingers.

"Ok, now what?"

"Now focus. Look deep inside of yourself for that warm feeling, that blue hug you felt coming from those 2 ANBU and grab it. Grab it and pull!" Rin smiled as she watched Naruto strain his facial features in concentration.

* * *

Within his mind, Naruto felt it. Just on the edges of his senses were a few loose strands of something blue. Mentally reaching out to them, he focused and pulled.

* * *

Rin quickly rose her arm to cover her eyes. A strong wind was blowing across the park, at the center of it was Naruto. Several rocks were blasted back, and grass was torn up. Blue flames erupted from Naruto, licking the air hungrily.

The 2 ANBU were staring in shock at the amount of chakra coming off the young boy. If this was the amount of chakra that the boy had at his young age, just imagine what it would be like as he would grow older!

Rin quickly lowered her sleeve. "Naru-chan! That's enough!"

Naruto quickly opened his eyes and let go of his chakra. The blue flames went out and he fell forward. Rin quickly ran and caught him before he hit the ground.

"That was impressive Naru-chan! Not many kids have that much chakra at your age!" exclaimed Rin.

Naruto smiled sleepily. "So… So did I do good?"

"You did great Naru-chan. I think that's enough for today, let's get you home."

Picking Naruto up and hefting him on her shoulder, she began the journey back to the Namikaze home.

About half-way home, Naruto murmured sleepily. "Rin nee-chan? Tou-san once said that there were many different kinds of ninja, which one is the strongest?"

"Well Naru-chan," Rin began. "There are many different kinds of ninja. I don't think that ninja are measured by their speed, or how many jutsu they know; I believe that the strongest ninja is the one that sticks up for others, and protects the people that he loves."

Naruto smiled, no longer sleepy. "Then that's the kind of ninja I want to be! The one that protects others, and keeps them from getting hurt! I will fight so that the ones I love don't have to!"

Rin giggled. "That's a very good choice Naru-chan. I believe that you can make it. I think that you can be the strongest ninja in the whole village, even stronger than the Hokage!"

"Yeah…" Naruto murmured. "I will be the strongest, stronger than my tou-san, stronger than all the previous Hokage…"

* * *

It was night time, the moon was high up in the sky, Naruto was tucked in his bed, covers tightly wound around him. He was saddened that his tou-san never read him bed time stories anymore. He would always overhear his tou-san's voice coming through the thin wall between his and Minami's room.

"…Tell me a story tou-san! The one about how you saved the village and stopped the Kyuubi!" came the excited, yet sleepy voice of Minami.

"Well, when the Kyuubi attacked, your tou-san stopped it by sealing half of it in you and half of it in the Shinigami." Came the tone of Minato, his baritone slightly high-pitched.

At this, he heard Minami giggle. He could just imagine his tou-san making a silly, yet slightly spooky face when talking about the Shinigami.

"That's what makes you so special Minami. You're a hero for keeping the big fuzzball all locked up in your tummy." Minami's incessant giggling came again as Minato poked her in her stomach.

* * *

After he finished his story, Minato stood up from the chair in Minami's room. Minami had long since fallen asleep and he was just watching her sleep.

* * *

"Goodnight my little angel, sleep well." Came Minato's voice, as the light outside Naruto's door flickered out. Naruto heard the creaking of the floorboards as Minato made his way across the hall to his room. The creaking stopped for a minute in front of his open door, before continuing further down the hall, ending with a door creaking shut.

'_Is that why tou-san and kaa-san seem to love her more than me? Because she's special? If that's what it takes to earn their love, then I'll become special! Just like her!' _Naruto thought.

This was a rather childish declaration, full of that bright innocence that only kids could have, but with it, came the determination that would fuel Naruto for the next 7 years, his dream to become _special_, just like his sister.

* * *

Far within the stomach of the Shinigami, darkness swirled without form. There was no light, no sound, no rest for those shut within.

'_I'll become special! Just like her!'_ rang throughout the darkness, echoing across the deep entrenching prison.

Deep within the void, within the everlasting night, a single blood red eye, with a slitted pupil opened. A great vulpine grin widened.

'_**Interesting…'**_

* * *

**AN: Well that's a wrap for the first chapter of The Other Side of the Coin. I would like to tell any readers that this will be updated once, maybe twice a week. I am quite busy with college and other projects. Once again, any constructive criticism is welcomed. Please review.**

**One last thing of note: I have put up a poll for whether or not Haku and Zabuza live. I am currently leaning towards both of them living. If what you truly want is for them to perish, merely say the word, this story is still within development, so it's easily subjected to change.**

**I would also like to note that yes, some of this story is inspired by The Prodigy Namikaze, but most of this content is original.**


	3. Chapter 2: Fuinjutsu

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other references within this story.

Key:

**"Summons and other Biju speaking"**

_**'Summons and other Biju** **thinking'**_

"Human speech"

_'Human thought'_

**Jutsu**

* * *

_**The Other Side of the Coin**_

**_Chapter 2: Fuinjutsu_**

* * *

"WAGH!"

"I got you Naru-chan!" shouted Rin as she rushed to the bottom of the tree. Quickly catching Naruto she set him on the ground and fussed over him with a professional medical eye. Naruto had recently begun tree-climbing and somehow managed to convince Rin to help oversee his training to catch up to his sister. Naruto wasn't blind, he knew his parents were favoring his sister. He had made excellent progress with the exercise.

"I'm ok nee-chan, you don't have to– WHERE ARE YOU STICKING THAT THING!?" Naruto quickly jumped back evading the needle aimed for his arm.

"Naruto," began Rin, a small fire burning in her eyes. "My job is to make sure you're safe. I don't know if you contracted an infection from any splinters you might have gotten, but I don't want to risk you getting sick. I don't care if you're an Uzumaki and have a miraculous immune system, you _will_ receive your shot!"

Naruto pouted at her and Rin's heart couldn't help but melt in sympathy. Her gaze softening she approached Naruto and pulled him on her back.

"I'm very proud of you Naru-chan. You managed to get to the top of the tree with your chakra! And at such a young age too! Not to mention the enormous size of your reserves hampering you all the while." Rin began walking out of the park, Naruto smiling all the while.

"Nee-chan? Can we visit jiji?"

Rin smiled. "You mean the Sandaime?"

"Yeah!"

Quickly turning around and channeling chakra to her feet, Rin jumped up and began hopping across the branches until she reached the main square. Falling back on to the road in front of the Sarutobi Compound, she couldn't help but feel her heart lift as Naruto giggled. Rin had recently been feeling as if the Namikaze family were paying less attention to Naruto than to his sister. She noticed that Minami was receiving all the praise and love from her family, while Naruto was left alone. She hoped that things would fix themselves soon. Snapping out of her thoughts, she realized she had already reached the door to the Sandaime's office.

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi was having a peaceful day. He had woken up at a decent time in the morning and had gone down to breakfast. As it turned out, his daughter, along with her little baby, his grandson, Konohamaru were visiting the doctor's for Kono-kun's monthly check-up. He had a very peaceful breakfast and lunch, before quietly retiring to his office for the rest of the day. Sitting in his comfortable chair and leaning back, reading his student's most beautiful work (he had long since figured out how to suppress a nosebleed), he was quietly waiting for his family to come home. Hearing the sound of footsteps he quickly hid his book in his secret compartment, he turned and received a large blond haired rocket to the chest.

"JIJI!"

"Ah, Naruto-kun, I wasn't expecting you today," was the calm response of the Sandaime, while inwardly, he was complaining about children and his old bones being weak nowadays.

"Jijijijijijijiji," was all that he could make out as Naruto bounced up and down. "I have a favor to ask you! Can you tell me about how the Kyuubi was sealed?"

Frowning slightly at Naruto's question, he lightly puffed on his pipe, before Rin smacked it away.

"There is a child present!" was the quiet hiss of the esteemed medic-nin.

"Ah, well Naruto-kun, the Kyuubi was sealed by your father through the use of the **Hakke no Fūin Shiki (Eight Trigrams Sealing Style)** and the **Shiki Fūjin (Dead Demon Consuming Seal)**," Hiruzen spoke softly, all the while ruffling Naruto's hair affectionately. "He used the Shinigami to seal half of the Kyuubi away, as a newborn couldn't handle too much of the Kyuubi's chakra, whilst also sealing the other half into your sister, Minami."

"Wow," Naruto muttered under his breath. "So seals are really powerful, aren't they jiji? If they could defeat the Kyuubi like that, they could defeat anyone! You wouldn't need any other kinds of jutsu, would you?"

"Now, now Naruto-kun, you mustn't forget, over-specializing in any kind of style is a deadly miscalculation, and will ruin you eventually is an enemy has a counter to your ability," admonished Hiruzen. "While yes, seals are in fact very powerful and very useful, it's a better idea to not over-rely too much on seals, as well as never underestimating your opponent. If you get too confident and arrogant, you will be blind to the moves of your opponent. Remember, there is always someone stronger than you out there."

"Even more than you and tou-san, jiji?" came the innocent response of Naruto.

"Yes, even more than Minato and I." Hiruzen smiled kindly. He couldn't help but feel as if Naruto simply existing in his presence lit up his day.

"What's that jiji?" Naruto was sitting on his lap, staring at a few overturned scrolls and manuscripts. He was pointing towards a scroll with a spiraling insignia written in ink.

"That my dear Naruto-kun, is a storage seal," Hiruzen smiled. "It is used to seal small objects like books and kunai away into another dimension."

"Can you teach me?" The idea of sending things to another dimension appealed greatly to Naruto for no other reason than that it 'sounds cool'.

'_It's good to see this generation so interested in the old arts. Most ninja underestimate fuinjutsu and its capabilities. Hopefully Naruto will become a master of the craft in the future. It would be a shame to see such potential and such curiosity, the main component of any seal master, to go to waste just like that.'_ Hiruzen thought inwardly.

"Of course I can Naruto-kun. Before you learn fuinjutsu, you must first have excellent handwriting. If you mess up a character on a seal, it could possibly explode in your face!" Hiruzen chuckled at Naruto's semi-disgusted expression. "Come, come Naruto-kun, now see, this is the character for "ta", see if you can copy it…"

* * *

By the time the sky turned dark, Naruto had already mastered his calligraphy to a decent degree. Whilst not on the levels of most fuinjutsu users, it was enough to prevent a seal from malfunctioning and blowing up his face. Rather impressive for one so small.

"Come on Naru-chan, Sandaime-sama needs his rest." Rin patted her knees crouched in front of Naruto.

Naruto quickly ran to his nee-chan and hugged her tightly. Rin carefully maneuvered Naruto onto her back and bowed to the Sandaime.

"I am terribly sorry for interrupting your time with Naruto Sandaime-sama, but it is time for him to go home now."

Hiruzen merely chuckled and waved her away. "It's quite alright Rin-chan, please, come again tomorrow. I'm sure that Naruto will excel in the noble art of fuinjutsu."

* * *

Naruto looked behind him and watched as Rin hopped off into the distance. He could sense the small amount of chakra built up within her legs, letting her jump across the rooftops. Walking to the front door, he wriggled the doorknob and found that it was locked. Frowning slightly he ran to the other side of the garden and rolled over a small rock. Digging underneath and compacted gravel and sand, he reached into the hole and pulled out a small key. Running to the front door and back, he quickly unlocked the door before hurrying back and burying the key. His frowned deepened. Did his parents really lock him out of the house by accident?

Walking into the house, Naruto took off his shoes and locked the door behind him. He could hear the clatter of pots and pans, as well as the laughter of his sister and mother as they talked about the day. Peeking in he noticed there wasn't a fourth plate laid out for him. Frowning slightly he listened in on the conversation between his kaa-san and nee-chan.

* * *

"Kaa-san, kaa-san! Tou-san and I finished water-walking today! I can stand on it for a whole minute!" Minami bounced in her seat.

"That's great Mina-chan!" exclaimed Kushina, pumping her fist into the air. "Soon you'll be just as strong as kaa-san and tou-san!"

Grinning slightly to herself, Kushina stood and began cleaning up the table. As she was washing the dishes, she frowned as she counted only three plates, before brushing it off as nothing but a bad feeling. Recently, she had been feeling small stabs of guilt for some unknown reason, whenever she saw other children play. Before the plates there was the park, and before that there was that time at the lake.

_'It's going to be alright Kushina'_ she assured herself._ 'It's all for preparing Minami. We need to make sure the world survives. As much as I don't like it, the needs of the village outweigh one person's wishes...__'_

Putting away the plates, she turned back to Minami only to see her staring at the door. Turning she saw the door slightly creaking and nothing else. Shrugging to herself she picked up Minami and headed for her room to tuck her in.

* * *

Minami was a sweet girl. She was raised by her parents to be kind and happy, to always help out her friends. She frequently had sleep overs with Ino Yamanaka and Hinata Hyuga, sometimes together. She was a very social and bubbly young girl, always making the villagers smile as she ran past them, laughing as her tou-san chased her, covered in purple paint (a story for another day). She always trained her hardest to make her tou-san and kaa-san proud. Happily chatting with her mother, she turned slightly and stared while Kushina stood to collect the plates and wash the dishes. She saw a small pair of cerulean eyes, sparkling at the edges with unshed tears staring at her through the crack in the door. The small eyes widened before quickly moving, revealing a shock of yellow hair rushing past the door, leaving it squeaking. Her kaa-san quickly picked her up a few minutes later and carried her to her room.

Recently, she had begun thinking of her adorable estranged younger (as she sees it) brother, who had, in her mind, almost none of the training she had. She always felt a little guilty seeing her brother so sad while she was playing with her friends or training with her tou-san. Though Minato nor Kushina never sensed him, she always saw him peeking through the windows, seeing what she and their parents were training in.

"Kaa-san?" came her small quiet voice. This instantly worried Kushina, as her daughter was always so bubbly. "Why does nii-chan never train with us?"

A stab of guilt shot through Kushina's body, before quickly being assuaged by her previous thoughts. "Well Mina-chan," Kushina began. "We promised your brother that we would train him at the start of the academy, so that we would have time to focus on you now. You need to learn how to control the Kyuubi, and how to be an excellent ninja, in order to prepare for the challenges ahead."

Sighing with no small amount of relief at the fact that her brother would not be left out, she indulged her curiosity. "Kaa-san? What do you mean by challenges?"

Eyes widening at her slip-up, Kushina decided 'to hell with it' and to just tell her daughter a half-truth. "Well you see Mina-chan, you are destined for great things, and tou-san and I just want you to be prepared, that's all."

Minami smiled as her mother tucked her into her bed. "Kaa-san can you read me a story?"

"Of course sweetie."

* * *

The next day would find Naruto determinedly attempting to walk on water. He was having great success too, managing to stay afloat for a good 4 minutes if he didn't move too much.. Not being the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi had its advantages in the form of chakra control.

If any bypasser had seen him, they would've been shocked. A mere boy, at the age of 5, was surrounded by multiple copies of himself. Only twelve, but twelve **Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clone)** was impressive for one so young and not a jinchuriki. The fact that he even knew this jutsu was shocking in and of itself. There are advantages to being neglected by your family, one of which is that they never really pay attention to you, so sneaking into your father's study at night in search of the lesson plan for water walking, which conveniently mentioned the use of **Kage Bunshin** as a training method, was relatively easy.

Naruto sighed as he thought about his family. _'Maybe. Just maybe. Maybe if I master this and show that I am just as good as Minami, if not better, they'll pay attention to me again...'_

Pushing these thoughts away, he focused back to the task at hand. Dispelling all his clones and almost falling into the water at the influx of memories, he began hopping up and down, and running around. He smiled at the fact that he didn't sink. Running back to dry land, he quickly began his journey to his jiji's house.

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi was having a rather awful day. His adorable grandson had apparently begun teething, and was gnawing on everything, crying whenever particularly dangerous objects were taken away from him. A female maid also had found his book and burnt it in the fireplace.

Always, on days like this something would happen to brighten his day. He assumed it was maybe Kami letting him catch a break after the life he led these past few years.

Almost instinctively he opened his arms and within a few seconds a blond and orange shaped rocket slammed into his abdomen.

"Jiji!" was the adorable shout of the 5 year-old.

"Ah, hello Naruto-kun," was the kind reply of the old Sandaime. "Are you here for fuinjutsu lessons?"

"Yeah!" Naruto excitedly hopped up and down. "I wanna be a great shinobi just like you and tou-san, and I'll do it with seals!"

Hiruzen sighed before puffing on his pipe a little. Rin wasn't there today to reprimand him, so he was free to do as he pleased.

"That is an excellent goal Naruto-kun. Come inside, your lesssons start now."

* * *

The candles in the room were still burning. Hiruzen had long since gone to bed, but not before ordering an ANBU to watch the compound to make sure Naruto was safe. Naruto was in fact snoozing on the Sandaime's office chair, his head on the desk. There was a smudge of ink on his face and the desktop was a mess. Through the chaos there were several completed seals, ranging from storage to explosive ones that the Sandaime had modified when teaching Naruto so that they would explode into paint (a personal request from Naruto). Naruto groaned slightly in his sleep, the scroll in his hand loosening and rolling across the desk before falling to the floor and unfurling slightly. Written on the piece of the scroll that was visible were two words.

_**Shiki Fūjin**_

* * *

**A/N: Well that's chapter 2. I hope you are pleased with it. I am sorry for the hold-up but while I do enjoy writing, I feel as if my studies take precedence over this story. So far we have Naruto starting to progress on his way to be a ninja, his chakra control is going a lot better due to the Kyuubi not being sealed in him. Once again, please review, any constructive criticism is highly appreciated as this is my first fanfiction. Any advice is welcome. I would like everyone to note, this fic will most likely be updated on Saturdays and Sundays, with the occasional Friday. **

**EDIT:  
A big thanks to nynrahghost for pointing out that the feelings of guilt and the neglect of Naruto were somewhat reasonless. I had a reason in mind as to why they were neglecting but I just forgot to write it in. **


	4. Chapter 3: Tenketsu

**EDIT: I would like to thank one ncpfan for giving a good recommendation to tell you guys a bit more about the plot: The story is mostly going to follow canon, with a few obvious deviations. This is not a Naruto turns evil story, BUT if I get enough people telling me that they want it to be, I can easily change it and make it one.**

**I would also like to state that i received several PMs expressing disapproval about the cold shudder magical neglect. I would also like to express my dislike of this and I will most likely change the previous chapters to match this. Naruto and his family are also probably not going to reconcile. Probably.**

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Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other references within this story.

Key:

**"Summons and other Biju speaking"**

_**'Summons and other Biju**** thinking'**_

"Human Speech"

_'Human Thought_'

**Jutsu**

* * *

_**The Other Side of the Coin**_

_**Chapter 3: Tenketsu**_

* * *

_Time Skip: 3 Years Later_

The sun peeked through the window and shone on a child's face. The face scrunched up before its eyes opened, shining a cerulean blue.

"Urgh…" Naruto groaned as he pulled off his covers and stretched. Yawning slightly he climbed out of bed and walked to the bathroom.

Going through his morning routine, he took a second to look in the mirror. He had grown pretty well. At a somewhat irregular height of 4`4``, due to his diet and training, he stood a few inches above his peers. His sun-kissed hair flopped around messily, still spiky like his father, yet short enough to be distinctly different.

Walking out of the bathroom he quickly pulled on a shirt and went downstairs. As he walked down he noticed his sister Minami, and his mother Kushina along with Minato walking out the door, no doubt taking her to the academy.

Sleepily making his way to the stove, he cracked a few eggs on a pan and began making breakfast. Thinking back, he remembered the day that his mother stopped making him breakfast, about 2 years ago. From that point on he realized he would have to take care of himself if he wanted to survive. Despite all this, he still wanted his parents' attention for the longest time, however, over the years he began growing more and more distant from his family, if he could even call them that.

The academy had begun about a month ago, and he excelled at first, easily achieving the top grades in class, with Minami coming in at a close second. Naruto supposed that his attempts to be the top of his class was some unconscious effort on his part to gain the attention of his parents. His parents didn't care of course, ignoring him in favor of Minami. Once he realized this, his grades plummeted, and he began skipping classes or arriving late, much like he is now. Their neglect was steadily getting worse.

"Feh," Naruto scoffed. "The academy's classes don't matter in the real world anyway. I mean, how is knowing what year Konoha was founded going to save my life against some nuke-nin?"

Quickly eating his eggs, he packed his things and headed to the academy.

* * *

"Well if it isn't the dead last!"

Naruto turned his head. He was sitting underneath a tree, his self-prepared bento in his lap. It was noon, lunch time for the students.

"What, got nothing to say?" came the follow-up of Kiba Inuzuka. Kiba was a brash young man, decent in taijutsu, and was located just above Naruto in terms of class ranking. Naruto supposed that Kiba attempted to pick on him in order to make himself feel better, for the scorning he no doubt receives at home for his grades. He was surrounded by a little group of kids, obviously brought along as back-up or for intimidation tactics.

"I don't need to say anything to make you look stupid," Naruto said. "You do a great job all by yourself."

While not the best of insults, it easily got the job done, making Kiba growl and take a step threateningly. Kiba was saved from a horrible fate by the bell ringing in the distance, signifying the end of lunch.

"Ugh, next time, I'll beat your ass dead last!"

"Whatever."

Naruto got up and slowly walked back to the academy, but not before Kiba knocked into his shoulder with his own and ran back to the classroom.

"Asshole…" Naruto muttered.

* * *

Barely keeping himself from falling asleep, due to the instructor's droning tone, Naruto thought back on his training over the years. He had mastered wind manipulation to the degree that he could actually cut a waterfall. Of course he was knocked out for about 3 days afterwards, but still, he managed to do it with the help of his clones. Granted the waterfall was only about 2 meters wide, it was still quite an achievement for one so young.

Naruto's fuinjutsu studies also bore fruit. He had become a Level 3 Seal Master, someone who knew more than the average ninja about seals, but still paled in comparison when compared to people like Jiraiya of the Sannin, a Level 7 Seal Master, and others who were older than him. In short, he was progressing as fast as a ninja with Uzumaki blood would have, had any aside from his family still been alive. He was resting in a nice niche of low to mid chunin in terms of strength. He had finally caught up to his sister in terms of strength, possibly even surpassing her due to his knowledge of seals. Minami was more interested in flashy jutsu rather than the more complex art of fuinjutsu. He would have loved to advance further in terms of strength, but he had hit a roadblock: his own body. No matter how hard he pushed himself, he was still a kid, and the body of a kid was pretty weak, not leaving much room for improvement. He estimated he would be able to reach mid to high chunin once he turned 12 in four years. For now he would just try to keep his muscles from deteriorating.

Frowning at the fact that his teacher was STILL talking, he finally gave in and settled down for a nap.

* * *

The bell rung.

"Alright class, you know your homework: read pages 126 to 130 in your textbooks!"

A resounding groan echoed throughout the class.

Getting up from her chair, Minami quickly looked around and spotted her friends, Ino and Hinata. Meeting them at the door, Minami began looking around the classroom, trying to spot her estranged brother. Realizing he was already gone, she frowned and hung her head. Turning around, she and her friends walked out of the classroom.

"So, do you think we can get him to reconnect with you today Minami?" Hinata wondered.

"We've already lost sight of him," refuted Ino. "We won't find him now, we don't know where he goes."

Minami frowned, but brightened slightly at the sight of her parents waiting for her.

* * *

Naruto was bored. He had been in the middle of reading through a Level 4 Fuinjutsu book, but had grown a little tired of it. Getting up, he quickly put on his shoes and ran out to the Hokage's private training ground. Running all the way to the back he ran up a tree, before doing a backflip off of it and landing onto the river without a ripple. Smiling at the fruits of his training, he began going through his regular routine of training: 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, and several other exercises needed to maintain his form. This would be a bit much for a civilian but for someone with access to their chakra, and with the infamous infinite Uzumaki stamina, it was child's play. Literally.

"Narutoooo!"

Naruto's eyes widened at the sound of his mother's voice. Looking up in shock he saw his mother and father standing at the doorway to the training grounds looking at him.

Walking up to them, his face struggling to keep an emotionless visage, he wondered for what would his family need him for? It must be rather important, if it made them notice him.

"Hey Naruto, how would you like to spar with your sister?"

His eyes widened. What where his parents playing at? He followed them out to the front yard where his sister appeared to be waiting.

Standing at position he stiffly bowed to his sister, as she followed suit.

* * *

Minami was excited. This was her chance to re-connect with her dear nii-san. Kakashi-nii told her that strong shinobi can communicate through their fists if all else fails. Smiling lightly she crouched into the Namikaze stance and prepared to make her brother understand her feelings.

* * *

Minato walked off to the side and stood at attention.

"HAJIME!"

Minami rushed forward, intent on nailing her brother in his face. Sadly, in her excitement, she overextended her arm, creating an opening. Naruto took full advantage of it and hit her with a win-enhanced fist, tearing lightly through her shirt and bruising her stomach. She was pushed back with a burst of air. Flipping in the air, she landed on the ground in a crouched stance, her eyes wide.

'_Was that wind-manipulation? How does he know about it? Has…has he been training with someone?'_

* * *

Naruto smirked slightly at his parents' shocked faces. He had long since given up on impressing them, and decided to instead attempt to prove to them what they missed out on.

Turning his attention back to his sister, he narrowly dodged a kick, before being smacked with an open palm in the chest. Stumbling back, he quickly made a few seals.

"**Fuuton: Daitoppa! (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)**"

Pouring as much chakra as he safely could into the jutsu, he pushed himself away from his sister's followed axe-kick. He watched as it cracked the ground. Landing on the tree, he overloaded his feet with chakra, cracking the bark and launching himself at his sister. She was too shocked to respond to this unpredictable tactic and was nailed in the face with a wind-enhanced fist as a result. She flew back and slammed against the tree.

* * *

Minato and Kushina's jaws had dropped. They had meant for this spar to teach Minami some control in her attacks as well as well as try out some new moves that are enhanced by the Kyuubi's chakra, by having her fight what they assumed to be a weaker opponent, not something like this! Naruto appeared to be just as strong as his sister, if not stronger, and he apparently knew wind-manipulation! That was a chunin to jonin level technique! Being able to channel wind chakra around your arm, without cutting yourself required some serious control, nothing a chunin couldn't handle, but for an 8 year old with no tutor aside from a few books, it was really impressive. Their eyes wide, they continued to watch the spar with rapt attention.

* * *

Minami eyes snapped open, anger clearly evident. That last punch had jarred her brain slightly, and she couldn't think straight. But what she could tell was that her brother was holding back. Granted she was holding back too, at most they were using genin-level taijutsu, with Naruto using a few chunin level techniques, but still, she felt insulted.

'_I'll show you!'_ she thought. Getting up on her feet, not realizing her anger was beginning to get the better of her, she charged, unconsciously channeling some of the Kyuubi's chakra, making her even more rabid.

* * *

Deep inside her mind, the Kyuubi chuckled. He had decided to make things more interesting for himself by taking advantage of his host's mental state.

* * *

Naruto was paralyzed by the unexpected wave of fear and malice that shot from Minami. Now normally, he could handle this, he had trained with Rin blasting him with killing intent to create an immunity, but this was the Kyuubi's killing intent. Even in miniscule amounts, it was still as strong as a jonin's. Given that this spar was meant for Minami to practice with the Kyuubi's chakra, Minato and Kushina didn't think anything was wrong.

Minami's shrouded arm shot out at Naruto. Naruto had finally managed to slightly recover from the wave of malice and quickly threw a kunai he kept on him at all times. Unfortunately in his fear, he threw the kunai backwards, so the blunt ring smacked into Minami's face and knocked out a tooth rather than cutting her. The kunai bounced off as Minami kept moving forward. Reaching her brother, her arm already had shot out at Naruto. In a desperate attempt to defend himself, Naruto raised his arms. Generally a bad idea, he could've simply blown her away with another jutsu, but he couldn't think straight due to the Kyuubi's influence. At most, he had reverted to his primal survival instincts.

Minami's arm tore through his own, all the way to the bone. At the sight of blood, the Killing Intent skyrocketed, hitting Kage level, and finally notifying Minato and Kushina that there's something wrong.

Naruto fainted out of pain, with Minami following shortly after, as the Kyuubi's chakra quickly rescinded into her body, leaving her with little to no energy.

Running over and picking up Minami's prone body, not noticing his son's wound from his vantage point, and not bothering to check due to his worry for Minami's overuse of the demonic chakra, Minato grabbed Kushina's arm and flashed to the hospital, leaving Naruto alone in the front yard.

* * *

Rin was having a great day. She had a day off and had slept in. She had gone to a spa and hot spring, thankfully not being watched by a pervert, and had a general day of peace and contentment. She was currently making her way to the Namikaze estate with a picnic basket full of goodies, ranging from sweet meats, to other assorted snacks and beverages. She planned to take her little Naru-chan to his favorite spot in the park and have a small picnic with him.

She walked up the steps and onto the front yard.

Her picnic basket fell out of her hands and crashed onto the ground, spilling its contents everywhere.

Her precious little Naru-chan was injured on the ground, bleeding out from his arm. Quickly running over to him, she began to apply as much medical chakra to the wound as possible, and pushed Naruto onto her back. She turned and rushed off to the hospital.

* * *

Minato and Kushina were sitting in a small room, eyes still foggy, watching as their little girl's chest rose and fell. She was alright, thankfully. The doctors had excused the tooth being knocked out as it was bound to happen naturally anyway.

Hearing the squeaking of wheels they turned towards the open doorway. Their eyes widened as they watched what appeared to be a team of doctors wheeling their son as fast as they could to an operation room. Not moving for a few seconds, Minato quickly stood up and ran after them, Kushina following in his wake. Catching up to the doctors, they tried to follow them into the operation room, only to be shoved out, but not before catching a glimpse at their son's mangled arm.

Kushina collapsed on the ground and began to cry, her hand over her mouth. Minato picked her up and walked to the waiting area, muttering comforting words to her all the while. Their previously repressed guilty feelings coming back full force, worse than they were several years ago.

Setting Kushina down into a chair, before collapsing into his own, he began trying to remember just what happened to make Naruto like this. He then remembered the spar.

Re-examining his memories, his eyes widened with shock as he realized that he had just left Naruto bleeding out on the front yard.

Kushina all the while was having the same thoughts, and was rocking back and forth, muttering "What kind of mother am I?", like some kind of broken toy.

Several hours had passed before Kushina fell asleep, tears staining her face. Minato was close as well. In between the few seconds of sleep and reality, a voice echoed through his head.

"…_**Every deal has a price…"**_

* * *

Minato and Kushina quickly woke up and immediately rushed to the operating room. They ran into a doctor from yesterday.

"Please tell me, how is my son!?" pleaded Kushina.

"Lady Namikaze…I'm afraid to tell you whatever happened to your son was incredibly devastating. The wound looked as if a large claw ripped through his arm. Whatever the cause, it ripped through several of his muscles and his chakra tubes. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but whatever did this managed to rip apart most of the tenketsu within his arm. This means that he won't be able to channel chakra through his arm. We managed to stem the bleeding and keep him alive but…Lady Namikaze…I'm afraid to say that the ripped apart tenketsu, coupled with the torn muscles…it means that your son probably will never be able to regain the use of his arm or be a ninja ever again."

* * *

**A/N: Alright, that's a wrap on Chapter 3. I do hope you enjoy, and please please PLEASE, offer any constructive criticism you may have. I would like to improve my writing as much as possible, to make sure you guys are satisfied. I tried to keep Naruto's growth as steady as possible. It is entirely feasible to reach low-chunin at his age, just look at Kakashi! However, Naruto is mindful of his body and didn't push it past the point of exhaustion, so he isn't going to be god mode or anything. If I had to say his strength level, it would be about Sasuke's level when he graduated. This, coupled with his ninjutsu and wind-manipulation easily puts him at low if not mid chunin. I would also once again like to state that I will most likely be updating on Fridays, Saturdays OR Sundays. My schoolwork is more important than this story, sorry if I disappointed you. But now comes up my little problem. I want Naruto to have a summons. Please give any recommendations you can. The following is not allowed: Toads, Slugs, and Snakes. This is mostly because Jiraiya neglects Naruto and wouldn't let him realistically sign the contract. Tsunade and Orochimaru not being in the village are pretty self-explanatory. Once again, please review, offer advice for improvements, and your suggestions for a summons. Goodbye for now.**


	5. Chapter 4: Deal with the Devil

**A/N: Recently I received a review claiming that I plagiarized some of my story. Now, if this is a flame, GTFO, if it is honest criticism, then I happily accept it. Thinking on this review, I looked over my story and tried to compare each part to any stories I have read before. I only managed to pick out 3 things: The scene with Rin reading Naruto the book, Naruto and Minami sparring, and Naruto getting his arm injured. Let's dissect, shall we?**

**Firstly: The scene with Rin. I fully admit that most of the inspiration for this scene comes from "The Namikaze Prodigy" and I credited the original author for the idea when I first posted the chapter. It is not plagiarism if the original content is credited. The fact that I used Rin is actually important, as the Tsunade Retrieval Arc will happen in this story.**

**Secondly: Naruto and Minami sparring. The entire battle sequence and the idea of using a spar to injure Naruto is original. I understand several stories such as "Madara's Grandson" use this idea of Naruto and his sister in a spar and his sister hurts him badly, but I can easily say that those stories were not in my mind when I wrote that scene. That scene is completely my own.**

**Lastly: Naruto's arm being injured. I'm sure some of you think that I "stole" this from any "Host of the Devil's Arm" fanfics that litter this site. Now for one, the circumstances at which Naruto injured his arm are completely different: In this story, he injured his arm through a spar; in the other stories, he injured his arm through a seal. And secondly, I plan to take this story in a different direction that those other ones.**

**If you still think I am plagiarizing, please tell me and point out where this spot is, and what story I accidently referenced, and I will gladly change it as best I can, or credit the original author. If you don't have evidence of plagiarizing and simply say that I did, I will just count you as a flamer. It also doesn't help that the person who pointed this supposed plagiarism did so from a Guest account.**

**Last on the agenda: Thank you Lily's Ashes for pointing out the unrealistic reactions of Minato and Kushina to the spar. I will try to change it as best I can.**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other references within this story.

Key

**"Summons and Biju speaking"**

_**'Summons and Biju thinking'**_

"Human Speech"

_'Human Thought'_

**Jutsu**

* * *

_**The Other Side of the Coin**_

_**Chapter 4: Deal with the Devil**_

* * *

"He's awake!"

Minato's eyes snapped open. Quickly standing up, Kushina's head falling off his shoulders, waking her, he ran to his son's hospital room, Kushina following. Flinging the door open, he saw the back of his child's head.

* * *

Naruto had awoken, almost pain-free and had taken instantly taken in his surroundings before the memories of yesterday slammed into his head.

Groaning slightly he stared out the window. Hearing footsteps, he heard the door slam open. He turned.

"Naruto…are you-"

"I'm fine." Was his curt reply. Taking in his father and mother's disheveled appearance, he correctly guessed that they spent the night at the hospital.

"Sochi-kun I'm so sorry, I thought you were-"

"That I was what!?" Naruto's voice had risen at his mother's apology. "That I was okay? That I was completely fine after getting my arm ripped apart by a Biju-possesed girl? That I was fine after my own sister nearly killed me!? What kind of parents are you! You completely neglect one child over another, treating one better!" Years upon years of rage and sadness exploded out of Naruto. "You could care less about me, and the only reason you even knew that I was hurt was because they carted me past Minami's room! Don't even try lying to me, I was awake! I saw your face!"

"N-Naruto, I-" Minato managed to stutter out.

"Oh shut up! You don't even deserve to look at me, much less apologize! Get out of my sight, I never want to see you AGAIN!"

At this, Kushina's motherly instincts flared up. "Naruto! Don't talk like that to your fathe-"

Naruto's temper erupted. "THAT NEGLECTFUL ASSHOLE IS NOT MY FATHER! AND YOU'RE NO BETTER! I DON'T CARE ABOUT ANYTHING YOU OR MY _FATHER_ HAVE TO SAY TO ME, YOU DID THIS TO ME!" Naruto swung his cast, stained with dried blood. "I UNDERSTAND PERFECTLY WELL WHAT THE CONSEQUENCES OF THIS KIND OF INJURY MEAN FOR MY FUTURE, THE DOCTORS TOLD ME! NOW GET. OUT. OF. MY. ROOM!"

Minato flinched at his son's words. Gathering up his almost broken wife, tears running down her face, he flashed out of the hospital. Arriving at his room, he sat down on the bed and held his wife as she cried, whispering words of comfort the whole time. He knew he messed up, and badly.

"Mi-Minato," Kushina sniffed. "It's all our fault!" At this she broke down into tears all over again.

"I know Kushi-chan, I know."

"No you don't! If we had just trained him, this would never have happened!"

Minato looked down at his wife and realized she had fallen asleep. Tucking her into the bed he turned and wondered to just what extent he had neglected his son; it couldn't truly be the bad could it?

* * *

Minami yawned and stretched. She had just woken up in a comfy hospital bed. Looking out the window, she saw it was raining. Upon realizing she was in a hospital she tried to remember how she got there. She frowned as she remembered the spar. She had gotten her tooth knocked out. That really hurt! That spar was supposed to be friendly, her nii-san shouldn't have-

Her eyes widened.

'_Nii-san.'_

Quickly throwing off the covers, she ran to the receptionist in the lobby, having been to the hospital many times before. The memory of a bubbling red claw reflected in her brother's frightened eyes pounded through her head.

"Mrs. Haruno!" she shouted as she skid to a stop in front of the desk.

"Oh Minami!" exclaimed the now named Mrs. Haruno. "What can I do for you?"

"Do you know where my brother is?"

"Oh he just walked outside a few seconds ago." She pointed at the door.

Yelling a quick thanks, she ran outside into the pouring rain. Making out her brother's shirt with the famed Uzumaki spiral on it, she maneuvered her way through the crowds and followed her brother to a training ground. Running after him, she stopped 2 meters away from him. The training ground was completely empty; no ninja felt like training on such a stormy day.

"…Nii-san?" came the quiet words of Minami.

"What?" Naruto spoke without turning around.

"Are…are you okay?" Her eyes widened when her brother finally turned. Blood leaked out of the cast, dripping on the ground and was rapidly being washed away by the rain.

"Does it look like I'm okay?"

"Nii-san, I-"

"Save it."

Spinning on his heel, Naruto vanished in a whirlwind of leaves. He had long since mastered the jutsu before the spar, not even needing hand signs for it.

Minami collapsed onto her knees, the rain hiding her tears and her guilt.

* * *

_Time Skip: 4 Years Later (Graduation Day)_

Naruto wandered into the class room, his arm still in a sling. Sitting at his desk and groaning slightly, thankful he was the first one there, he thought back on how he managed to continue being a ninja in-training.

* * *

_Flashback_

"_Hokage-sama."_

_Minato flinched. He turned and looked at the staircase, reminded of that day he gave his son the book on chakra so long ago. Cringing a little at the cold stare of his child he waited for his follow-up._

"_I wish to continue to be a ninja."_

_Minato's eyes widened. His son…no…not his son, he lost the right to call him that several days ago… He wanted to continue being a ninja? How would he even make it past the genin exam? With one arm no less?_

"_Naruto… I'm not sure you totally understand the extent of your injury-"_

"_Oh I understand perfectly_ Hokage-sama_" Naruto hissed. "I want to become a ninja, and I will. This little injury," he held up his cast. "Won't make a difference. Believe me."_

_Pondering on Naruto's words he hatched an idea. He didn't want his son getting hurt and experiencing pain any more than he already had. If he let his son continue in the program, he might start to forgive him a little. He doubted he would make it past his first few missions, and would probably drop out of the program due to the complications of his injury. His son would be safe, and he might be a bit warmer towards the family. It was a win-win situation in Minato's book._

"_Very well Naruto. If that is what you want, you can continue being a ninja in-training."_

"_Thank you Hokage-sama." Was the quiet reply of his son as he walked back upstairs. Minato sat down on the sofa, his face in his hands. If one looked closely, one would see a single tear falling between his fingers._

_Flashback End_

* * *

He smirked a bit the memory. When he came to class with the cast, the details of his injury had already spread throughout the whole village. He could feel the pity rolling off the villagers in droves. He hated it. He didn't need the pity of the village. He would show them all up. He would become Hokage to prove to everyone that he didn't need their pity, their training, or their false condolences. He would become Hokage not because he wanted to rule the village, but for the sheer fact that he could rub it in his _father's_ face that despite all the shit he was put through, he managed to come out on top. He thought back to his first day back at school after the incident. He admitted he enjoyed that day very much.

* * *

_Flashback_

_The door creaked and all chatter stopped. Everyone's eyes turned to the hunched figure walking down the steps to his seat, his cast in full view. Naruto sat down at his desk. Kiba was the first to break the silence. He walked in front of Naruto's desk._

"_Heh, look at you dead-last! Got in a little accident? What did you do to get back in here? Did you beg your daddy to be let back in to the program?" Kiba sneered. "I bet he pitied you, I bet he-"_

_Kiba's little rant was interrupted by his own scream. The whole class gasped, for Naruto had taken out a kunai, spun it on its ring, and stabbed Kiba's hand, pinning it to the desk. Grabbing Kiba's coat, he brought him to his face._

"_What's the matter runt, can't handle a little pain?" Naruto growled. "I thought that you were the _alpha male_ of this class."_

_Unpinning Kiba, he watched as Kiba toppled backwards, landing on his ass and cradling his hand, staring at Naruto in horror. At this moment, Iruka walked in. Noticing the commotion, but not noticing Kiba's injury, for Kiba had covered it up, he sent everyone back to their seats and began roll call. Kiba wouldn't ever actually tell anyone about this incident, and he prompted others to do so as well. He considered it a blow to his pride to be injured by the dead-last, and he didn't want it becoming public._

_Flashback End_

* * *

Even today, Kiba still stayed away from him. Naruto wondered why he didn't threaten Kiba earlier.

At this point, Naruto had managed to reach a strong mid to high chunin level. Surprisingly, this was based not on taijutsu but _ninjutsu_.

* * *

_Flashback_

_Naruto stared at the scroll in his hands. He couldn't believe it. This was the key to solving all of his problems. _One-handed hand signs_. This scroll was a great discovery; he had found it while sneaking around in his father's office. It seemed to be the thing Minato was currently trying to learn. It apparently required amazing chakra control, but then again, what doesn't?_

_The scroll described chakra as a river, flowing down towards its destination jutsu. The problem with simply channeling chakra into a jutsu is simple: the chakra isn't molded correctly. The scroll then described a series of tunnels which turned the temperature of the river colder, as well as changing the color of the water. The chakra would flow through several of these gates and reach the destination, which was jutsu. To do these one-handed hand signs, the user would have to be able to change the color or the temperature of the river himself, for the one-handed hand signs only did one of either of them, rather than both, as a full hand sign would._

_From that point on, Naruto was determined to raise his chakra control to such a level that he could even potentially master Tsunade's strength technique._

_By year's end, Naruto had managed to raise his control to a high enough level _**(A/N: Slightly above Haku's Level, which is about a quarter of Tsunade's)** _that he could perform most of his jutsu again. This was mostly accomplished through kunai balancing and other assorted practices. This kind of control and the ability to do one-handed hand seals alone would easily place him at mid-chunin, given that he could fight with one hand occupied. His level was balanced out by his other skills. Since he couldn't use his arm anymore, he stopped learning his taijutsu style of the Goken, which was from a scroll he found lying around in the library. It was written by some crazy guy who advised that after performing 100 of each kata, the reader should do 500 laps around Konoha with 100 pound weights to celebrate. Clearly crazy. He decided to turn to a different style, one that primarily uses his legs to fight. After hours of searching, he found one that more often than not, used legs to fight. It was apparently written by a famous chef by the name of Kurotsami Ichiraku. He claimed that a chef must never dirty their hands when fighting, as that was what they used to prepare food, as food was sacred, and should never be dirtied. In fact, Kurotsami often mentioned how one of his ancestors fought a man who used _ramen_ as a weapon. He apparently claimed it was a disgrace to use food in such a way. Naruto decided to incorporate some of the style into his own variant of street brawler, replacing the main base of his style, the Goken, with it._

**(A/N: I do not own One Piece. Check the bottom for more details on what I plan to do with this.)**

_Naruto also had delved into fuinjutsu with a ferocity that amazed Hiruzen, his teacher after so many months. He sympathized with Naruto's situation and was originally planning on not teaching Naruto fuinjutsu, until Naruto claimed that he would use it to find a way to possibly fix his arm, if not replace it altogether. The incident with his arm had actually fueled his dream to become _special_, just like his sister; although now he wanted to become special for an entirely different reason, than for his parents' love and attention. He was happy to note that he had become a Level 5 Seal Master, after having finally passed the test set down by his beloved jiji. The Sandaime had actually given him access to his private library, which let him research more on the _**Shiki Fujin**_. His parents were both Level 9 Seal Masters, with Kushina slightly eclipsing Minato in terms of creativity and application of seals, and he strived to surpass them both._

_Flashback End_

* * *

Naruto was shook out of his thoughts as the bell rung. He realized while he was deep in thought, everyone had already filtered into the classroom. He took a second to look around. His sister, like always, was staring at him. Honestly, it slightly unnerved him. The big emo bastard of the classroom, Sasuke Uchiha was sitting on the far right, brooding. The Uchiha Massacre had occurred about a month after he first got injured. Snapping back to attention, he realized that Iruka had already gotten through his introduction and was calling out the names of the teams.

"…Team 5 will be Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, and Minami Namikaze. Their sensei will be Kushina Namikaze. Team 6 is still in circulation. Team 7 will be Naruto Namikaze, Hinata Hyuga, and Sasuke Uchiha. Their sensei will be Kakashi Hatake…"

At this point he zoned out and retreated into his thoughts. Kakashi as his sensei? He supposed Minato wanted the scarecrow to keep an eye on him to make sure he didn't get hurt on his first _real_ mission. Maybe Minato wanted him to drop out once he saw how _apparently_ useless he was? Snapping back into reality, he realized Iruka was nearing the end of his listings.

"…and Team 16 is still in circulation. You will meet your sensei here, a week from now. Take a break until that time, you've earned it. I expect you all to make Konoha proud."

Naruto stood and walked out of the classroom, the rest of the class taking his actions as a prompt to go home.

* * *

Naruto made his way through the village to Training Ground 34. A plain and flat area, with little to no trees whatsoever. It was completely devoid of life at this time, as no one ever really came here. Naruto took out a scroll and laid it on the ground next to him. Re-reading its contents, he took out a paintbrush and began to meticulously paint symbols on the ground with his left hand. It actually took him several months of hard work to get his left hand functional and become ambidextrous. Once he was finished, he stood in front of the circle he painted, facing away from it, And practiced his hand signs one last time. Once he was satisfied, he began to channel his chakra.

Just like 12 years ago, the sky darkened. The ground shook slightly, and the air temperature dropped to the point where Naruto could actually see his breath. The wind blew and a small blue fire flickered into existence in the center of the circle. The fire grew before vanishing, revealing a towering figure in a long white robe, a knife held between its black teeth. The Shinigami. The god then tried to create an effigy of its castor but it couldn't. It could barely move. Runes and Kanji glowed blue on the edges of its vision. The death god grew angry. It could always dispel, but then that would be a stain upon its honor, someone managing to summon itself without paying its price. Its eyes then looked down and noticed a small human standing at the edge of the circle. The human turned and locked eyes with the god.

"Shinigami-sama, I would like to strike a deal with you."

* * *

**A/N: Well that is Chapter 4. I hope you enjoyed reading. Now onto more pressing issues: Naruto's taijutsu: He won't be entirely adopting the Black Leg style of fighting, and he most definitely won't be shouting out things related to food. I just used this as an excuse to have Naruto be able to use a decent taijutsu style that circled around his legs.**

**Next: See the first A/N note of this chapter if you haven't already.**

**Lastly: The Summons. I actually was surprised by the results. To tell the truth, I was actually kind of rooting for Salamanders, as I have a whole thing planned out for them. The votes are as follows:**

**Dragons (10 votes)**

**The Shijin (7 votes)**

**Salamanders (13 votes)**

**Popular Request: Menma's Masked Creatures (6 votes) **

**And finally the most random ass Popular Request that I never saw coming:**

**Scorpions (8 votes)**

**For the Scorpions: I find this acceptable and I would actually love to write for them. I even had a whole thing planned out for their summons when I first read the 8 suggestions I got. I am also formally dropping the Horses from Toriko and Phoenixes at this point, as they got few votes compared to the others. That is all for now. Please remember to review and tell me and criticisms you may have. Flamers will be ignored.**


	6. Small AN

**Sorry readers, I'm real busy with schoolwork and all that. You'll get your next chapter on April 25****th****. Once again, I'm real sorry, but I've already made clear that college comes before this story. On a side note:**

**Summons votes:**

**Scorpion: 22**

**Salamanders: 22**

**These 2 are the highest up there so…**


	7. Chapter 5: Yin

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other references within this story.

Key

**"Summons and Biju speaking"**

_**'Summons and Biju thinking'**_

"Human Speech"

_'Human Thought'_

**Jutsu**

* * *

_**The Other Side of the Coin**_

_**Chapter 5: Yin**_

* * *

Bright blue eyes snapped open. It was _that_ dream again. She could remember the blood pumping through her body, the urge to kill, to maim, _to slaughter_ roaring through her mind. But most importantly she could remember the terrified look on her brother's face.

Minami rolled off her bed. Fuzzily making her way to her closet she froze when she noticed the calendar. It's Graduation Day.

Eyes widening, Minami quickly got dressed and ran downstairs. Reaching the table she shoveled all the food on the plate into her mouth, grabbed a piece of toast and ran out the door, not even saying goodbye to Kushina, who was a little shocked at her rudeness. Kushina smiled. It _was _graduation day wasn't it? She remembered that she did just what Minami had at the Senju compound where she grew up. She couldn't really hold it against her daughter. Kushina turned towards the table and stared sadly at the one cold plate on it. She and the rest of her family had already eaten except for one. She wasn't even sure that her sochi was in the house sometimes. He was always so quiet. Sighing to herself, she wiped away the tears running down her cheeks and threw away the food before washing the dishes and silently walking back to her room. Maybe she could see him at the end of school? He _was_ going to graduate wasn't he?

Minami rushed through the streets, waving every now and then as she passed various shopkeepers. If she could make it there early, she could probably talk to her brother alone! She had noticed that he seemed to hate crowds.

Arriving at the academy, she headed inside and was disappointed to see almost everyone there. Of course, it's Graduation Day. _Everyone_ would get here early. She noticed her brother sitting far away from her, his eyes closed and leaning back on his chair. She frowned and her mind wavered. She sat back and remembered just how badly her brother had been treated.

* * *

_Flashback_

_Minami was hiding on the stairs. She was high up and peeking over the railing staring down at her family. Her parents had just stopped her brother as he was heading out the door. It was the about a week after the _incident_._

"_What?"_

_Naruto's question was cold and curt. Her parents flinched as did she. Her brother was never that cold! She even remembered his happy personality as she once noticed him in a park under a tree, talking to her Auntie Rin. Minami frowned. Auntie Rin never came around much more. She sometimes would smile at her, before shaking her head at her parents as she escorted her brother to school. Her tou-san had assigned her this job, seeing as she was the only one Naruto ever talked to. _

"_Err… Naruto… we were just wondering…" Minato stuttered a little. "You wouldn't like to maybe train with your sister would you?"_

_This was apparently the wrong thing to say._

"_Train?" Naruto softly muttered. "You want to train me? After all that's happened, NOW YOU WANT TO TRAIN ME?" His words ended in a shout._

"_Sochi, please we're sorry, we just-"_

"_I already told you to _save it_. I don't care about your reasons, I don't care about your apologies, regardless of what you were thinking, THIS happened." He raised his arm, still tightly bound in a cast. "Do you know… do you know what I always thought as I went to bed? 'Maybe if I show tou-san how strong I am, he and kaa-san might love me again'." Naruto's mockingly cheerful expression shifted into his previous emotionless visage. At his words, Minato flinched and Kushina began to tear up._

"_Do you know to what lengths you would have to go to," Naruto started. "To make a child think he isn't _loved_?"_

_At this Kushina actually burst into tears and ran out of the room. Minami flinched at his words, thinking it was her fault that her brother was this way. Running down the stairs she ran towards Naruto._

"_Nii-san, I'm sorry!" She yelled. Jumping forward she tried to hug her brother, only to meet nothing but air._

"_Save it, I'm done with this conversation."_

_Minami turned and just managed to glimpse her brother as he walked out the door. He was only 8, he shouldn't be this angry. She flinched as her mind threw her logic back at her. He was only 8, he shouldn't have suffered this much. As much as she didn't want to admit it, he had all the right to be angry…_

_Flashback End_

* * *

Minami sighed. Ever since that day, Minato and Kushina would daily confront her brother and try to talk to him. Even Kiba could probably tell how that turned out. Her brother had gotten even farther away from her family than before. Eventually, her parents had seemingly given up. The day that they did, she swore she saw triumph in her brother's eyes, almost as this was the final proof of neglect: That they would give up on him. Minami herself knew that if SHE was at fault, she would never stop apologizing. In fact, she sometimes managed to catch her brother as he was leaving the academy and apologize. He would of course blow her off, but she would never give up. And if she had to become stronger to do it, so be it. She _was_ mid-chunin level in strength after all. She could possibly even give some jonin a run for their money if she used the Kyuubi's chakra. She flinched at the thought of it, the memory of her brother's face, his eyes wide in terror, the sound of ripping flesh and the smell of blood assaulted her mind. She immediately banished those horrid memories.

Minami sighed again before turning away from her brother and looking around the room. Iruka-sensei hadn't arrived yet and she saw that everyone was starting to get rowdy. Perhaps she should-

Her thoughts were interrupted as Iruka burst into the room. Oddly enough, everyone quieted down. Normally it took an application of Iruka's big head technique to get everyone to shut up, but it appears that today, everyone was too nervous to do much in his presence. Iruka walked to the podium and began his speech.

"I would firstly just like to say how proud I am. I'll admit, I honestly didn't expect some of you to be here today," He pointedly looked at Kiba and Shikamaru. "But you are here, and your time in the Academy is behind you. You are now shinobi. You are ninja, you are warriors. You are to serve underneath the Hokage, and you must be willing to die for him."

Iruka continued to drone on about how important they were to the village for several minutes. When he finished, Iruka looked around the room and noticed only a fourth of the class was paying attention. Iruka sighed. It looks like his speeches were still as boring as ever. It looks like both of the Hokage's children had actually dozed off.

* * *

Minami woke up with a start and realized that Iruka was listing off the teams.

"…Team 5 will be Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, and Minami Namikaze. Their sensei will be Kushina Namikaze. Team 6 is still in circulation. Team 7 will be Naruto Namikaze, Hinata Hyuga, and Sasuke Uchiha. Their sensei will be Kakashi Hatake…"

So her sensei would be her mom? That's awesome! Her mental party slowed. She was with _Kiba_. Shino she didn't have a problem with, he was nice and generally quiet as well as a hard worker, but _Kiba_ was a lazy asshole and a pervert. He began hitting on her the first day of the academy. She generally brushed him off, even breaking his arm once. She swore she saw her brother smile when she did that but had disregarded it. Her brother never smiled anymore. At least not around her. To this day, he still paws after her, thinking she's playing hard-to-get. Her brother was sadly not on her team. She really wished he was, it would have been the chance she needed to get his forgiveness.

"…and Team 16 is still in circulation. You will meet your senseis here a week from now. Take a break until that time, you've earned it. I expect you all to make Konoha proud."

Minami sat in her chair, thinking about her team. She noticed her brother was the first one to get up and the first one out the door. She watched as Kiba approached her, no doubt to flirt with her and annoyingly ask her out on a date. She got up, did a few handsigns, and shunshined out of the academy.

* * *

Kushina sighed. It was lunchtime and her family save one were eating at the table. She watched silently as her daughter talked animatedly with Minato. She knew it was a façade, and that both of them were just trying to keep up appearences to one another. Naruto's anger had hit them hard. Kushina silently wondered what her sochi even ate during lunchtime, and if he did, what did he eat? The answer, though she didn't know it, was that Naruto actually ate at Rin's. His favorite food for lunchtime was red bean soup. She sighed mournfully, as a single tear made its way down her cheek. It was her fault, it was all her fault, if only they trained him, he would still love them, and he wouldn't have gotten hurt.

Minato and Minami stopped talking and watched as Kushina's shoulders shook. Minami frowned sadly. It seemed as if only her mother was strong enough not to hide her feelings. She suddenly froze. At the back of her mind she heard roars. She could just barely make out a few words.

"…**THE… GOD... DEATH… HE…"**

With a start, she realized it was the Kyuubi. It was _afraid_. Something out there was making it frightened, and if she heard correctly, it was a _god_? Shaking her head, she tried to clear her thoughts. Suddenly she shivered. Something cold had just washed over her. Looking around she noticed her parents frowning, both of them staring at the window. Something was wrong. Something was out there.

* * *

It was nighttime. The sky was dark, and the wind blew chillingly. All the denizens of Konoha that were out at night, be it in a club or at a friend's, were shivering in their beds, under the covers. Children whimpered, and adults comforted them, staring out their windows. There was something eerie in the air. Something dark, something that's not a part of this world.

Minami shivered in her mother's embrace. Just for today she had slept with her mother and father in their bed. There was something terrifying happening in Konoha, but she couldn't put it into words. And then it just disappeared. The chill in the air had lifted. Minami frowned. Just what the _hell_ was that?

* * *

A single drop from the ceiling fell and rippled the murky water. The sewer was quiet. Pipes ran along the edges, some red, others blue. At the center of this maze of pipes stood an enormous cage. The darkness in it was prevalent; you couldn't see a thing inside. A single blood-red eye snapped open, the slit pupil pulsing menacingly.

"**So…It appears that my other half walks the earth once again…"**

* * *

**A/N: Well that about wraps up this chapter. I'm sorry it was so short compared to the others (only 1900 words compared to my usual 2000-3000) but it was a bit of a rush job. My excuse for this is two-fold: The first is that I'm actually winging it. The chapters before this one were planned out and I just kind of winged this one. Anyway, on to business: Summons. Salamanders have officially won (I was actually hoping for this one), and I have already thought up how Naruto will get the contract. Anyway, I would just like to say this: This story is going to be stalled for 2 weeks. This is because my end of the year exams (finals, tests, whatever the hell you want to call them) are coming up, and I really need to use this time for studying. The next chapter will be released May 16****th****. Thank you for your patience, and once again, I apologize, but my education comes first before this story. Don't you DARE think I'm abandoning it. I swear I will see it through to the end. Once again, please review and tell me what you think. Any helpful advice will be appreciated, flamers will be ignored.**


	8. AN: Teams

**Yo readers. Recently I have received reviews about the Teams being a bit cliché and honestly? I kind of agree. Naruto's character so far is that he doesn't play well with others, so I will most likely change it to suit my whims. Also, I received a review talking a bit about the general flaws in Naruto and that my story might accidently possibly reflect that.**

**I'm telling you right now. Fuck no. I am not letting any stupid Orochimaru bullshit/Sasuke fanboy bullshit (No Deus Ex Machina for YOU Sasuke!) in my story.**

**Wave will happen. End of story – this is mostly for character development.**

**Naruto will not be paired with anyone.**

**Now on to more important business. The teams: The team Naruto is on is a bit cliché. I wanted to do something unique with my story, so I will most likely change the teams. I refuse to use OCs.**

**So far I was thinking this: Team 7: Minami (LOL, I used Natsumi by accident), Sasuke, Sakura; Sensei: Kakashi or Kushina.**

**Team 8: Naruto, Shikamaru, XXX; Sensei: Asuma or Kurenai.**

**Once again, PLEASE tell me what you think. I only noticed how cliché this last chapter was because of your reviews. Your reviews are what makes this story better. PLEASE review and give any helpful advice. Thank you.**


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